In high-profile endorsement of county board race, a rift is exposed

SANTA CRUZ - A recent high-profile endorsement in an ongoing county board race is rippling through another prominent contest, with a legendary local figure warning a first-time candidate to be careful whom he associates with.

Former Assembly Speaker Pro Tem and current Santa Cruz County Treasurer Fred Keeley's decision to back former state lawmaker and Secretary of State Bruce McPherson in the nonpartisan race to represent the 5th supervisorial district sent tongues wagging. While in Sacramento together, the two were on opposite sides of the political aisle, and while McPherson has renounced political affiliation, Keeley had endorsed strictly Democrats in other local contests.

Using his campaign website, the endorsement prompted Santa Cruz City Council candidate Micah Posner to defend Keeley while disagreeing with his choice. But Posner's defense drew a rebuke from longtime environmentalist and former supervisor Gary Patton, a reply that laid bare Patton's distaste for the current council majority.

"Fred has served, and is still serving, as the political godfather of the current council majority; that is his true political allegiance," Patton wrote in an email obtained by the Sentinel. "I was hoping that you'd be a different kind of council member, but if you are just another apologist for Fred, I guess that's not true."

Posner, the former executive director of People Power, has been endorsed by both Keeley and Patton. But in the letter, Patton says he wouldn't attend a campaign kick-off party that took place last week.

Posner confirmed that Keeley did go to the event, even pedaling a bicycle-powered public-address system as Posner spoke to attendees. He said he responded to Patton, and still has his backing.

"He's clearly endorsed me and he's very supportive," said Posner, one of eight candidates vying for four seats. "Which is really important to me, because I respect that guy a lot."

There is a history between McPherson and Patton, with Patton losing a 1993 special election for a Central Coast Assembly seat to McPherson. But Patton's ire seems reserved, mainly, for Keeley.

"[He does not really share the values that I think that you have - or that I have hoped you have," Patton wrote to Posner.

Patton declined to comment further. But the sharpness of the tone exposes a fault line that's run through local Democratic circles for years.

On one side is the current council majority: generally pro-business, open to compromise and, while pro-environment and cautious of growth, not purists about either issue. Generally, this side tends to be younger.

One the other side is the older guard, populated by hardcore conservationists and lefty true-believers. Though they established Santa Cruz' reputation for activism, their influence seems to be dwindling, with the balance of power on the council having shifted decidedly from the latter to the former.

Posner has leftist credentials, having marshaled the bicycle advocacy group People Power into a position of influence, arguing against a Highway 1 expansion and pushing the county toward more alternative forms of transportation.

But somewhere in Arana Gulch, Posner ran afoul of hardcore environmentalists who were desperate to stop a coming eight-foot-wide bicycle and pedestrian path through a pristine coastal landscape. Posner and much of the rest of the local bicycle community supported the controversial plan, but Posner said those wounds have healed.

"I don't think that issue created some huge long-standing division among environmentalists, thank God," he said.

Keeley - who built a sterling environmental record in the legislature and serves on the boards of several local environmental groups - has broken with the old guard on several prominent issues, such as backing the failed beachfront La Bahia Hotel proposal.

"If I had my way, we'd build a second statue on West Cliff Drive, next to the surfer statue, of Gary Patton. And I'm serious about that," said Keeley, adding that it was "not a debatable point" that progressives have won the war for Santa Cruz' political heart and soul.

"The new challenge is the challenge that's been here for 10 to 15 years now, which is, 'How does a progressive community have the economic construct that it wants, how does it have a local economy that matches up to the values that we battled for two decades ago?'" Keeley said.

Patton also slammed Keeley for being a board member of California Forward, a nonpartisan, reform-minded statewide group that pushed for the state's new Top 2 primary system and a citizen-led redistricting effort.

California Forward also put Proposition 31 on the November ballot. Among many changes, it would ease some environmental rules, and is opposed by many environmental groups. Patton called it "the most dangerous, anti-environmental measure that has been put before the voters in years."

Keeley said he voted against putting the measure on the ballot, and isn't supporting it.

The race between McPherson and Eric Hammer is shaping up to be a battle, with McPherson narrowly missing an outright majority win in June's primary. But turnout in that vote was unusually low, and Hammer can count on a boost from local Democrats turning out to vote in November's presidential race.

The two have recently turned up the heat in the race, with McPherson announcing an endorsement from Hammer's one-time Democratic rival for the seat, San Lorenzo Valley school board member George Wylie. Hammer countered with an endorsement announcement from California Democratic Party Chair John Burton.

In the blog post, Posner said Keeley's backing of McPherson - seen by some as a signal for other local Democrats to back the former Republican - only increased his respect for Keeley. But he was unequivocal about who he supported.

"Fred Keeley should be loyal to his long-standing ally Bruce McPherson and we should ignore him and work hard to get Eric Hammer elected to a local position in local government," Posner wrote.